Phone Upgrade Holideals Not Applying

[repiano]

Does anyone else have this problem?

I purchased a phone upgrade to a Samsung S20+, which said it was financed at 10$ a month for 24 months as part of a Christmas holideal special. I called customer care and they assured me that a discount would be applied to the financed amount on my next bill. However, this is not the case and I am paying full price (50+ dollars monthly) for a 2+ year old phone I upgraded to because of the discount. 

I will call customer care again to get this fixed, but in the meantime, if anyone else has this issue, let me know! 

[FidoNajat]

Hey @BobC83! A monthly credit may indeed be subject to an eligible plan but that is different from the bill credit that comes with a Fido Payment Program since the monthly credit applies to the plan whereas the second one applies to the device. If you need help with your Fido account, feel free to contact us and we'll be glad to go further into the details with you. 

[FidoNajat]

Hey @BobC83 ! The Fido Payment Program allows you to spread the cost of a new phone or tablet over 24 equal monthly payments at 0% interest with an eligible plan. The Eligible plan simply has to be compatible with the Payment program, it cannot be a Bring your Own Phone type of plan. That doesn't mean it has to be more expensive but simply respect those criteria.

We hope this clarifies. 

[BobC83]

I think that's the issue. The definition of an "eligible plan" seems to keep changing to, in effect, mean "a more expensive plan than I currently have."

So let's say I sign up for the "eligible plan" today to get a discounted phone - sorry, full price phone eligible for a monthly credit - financed over the next two years. When it's time to replace my phone three years from now, how do I know that the plan will still be an "eligible plan" to finance a new phone and I won't be told that I need to upgrade to o new "eligible" plan?

[BobC83]

And yet Fido told me in April that I had a financing plan that I should keep because it would let me upgrade phones. Then this week Fido told me that my plan was not eligible for the promotion and I had to upgrade my plan.

So, logically, at least one of the Fido reps was lying to me.

[BobC83]

This promotion is suspicious. I spoke to an in-store salesman and a phone salesman. They both were pretty aggressive with the upselling, to the point they were saying untrue things. My concern is what happens in three years when it's time to upgrade my phone.

Both reps told me that I cannot get the new phone promo with my current plan, even though I was discouraged in April from downgrading being told that I'd lose my Fido Payment Program. Maybe that was a lie, too. Nope, with this phone, I have to get a more expensive plan.

Both reps got smarmy with me. The phone rep said "I'm personally uncomfortable with the amount of data you're getting with your current plan," and the in-store rep said "You're not using a lot of data right now, but the new phone has a lot more features and is easier to use, so you'll probably end up needing ten times more data than you use right now." The store rep also told me that the phones were so heavily discounted on the financing plan because "Google was trying to get more market share." Maybe those lies work on their less astute customers, but not on someone who does his research. A real salesman helps me find what fits my needs, not the most expensive thing they're selling.

Anyhow, say I take the bait and get a new phone on a more expensive plan. In 2025 when it's time to replace the phone, is Fido going to tell me that I can't do it on a "legacy" plan and need to upgrade to an even more expensive plan? Cuz this is the sort of upselling I've had to deal with since 2015 when I signed up for their $30/mo plan and then end up paying an extra $60/year every 3 years.

[KAPABLE-K · Accepted solution]

Hello @repiano,

Welcome to the community!

When financing a device at a discount rate the actual finance portion never changes instead what happens is you will get a credit applied to the bill for the difference for example if the device cost $50 and you got it on promotion for $10 and your plan is $40 the break down would be $50 (device) +$40(plan) - $40 (credit for the device) = $50 if you do not see that credit and your overall monthly fee is higher then you should follow up with customer service.